Halloween Ghost Story Contest -- 1998
Middle School Winners

Third Place

This final author in the middle school category is named Amy Fritz and
currently attends the Saugus Belmonte Middle School. Her entry was sent
to us on time but arrived late.

The Halloween Murders

byAmy Fritz

"Get out, get out of my house," screamed a young woman as an older man walked in her house. Drip, drip, drops the blood off the knife that the man used to kill his victim. The man wiped off his knife and into the night he wanders.

The next morning the Salem Police find young beautiful Stephanie Smith dead on her kitchen floor. They say that she had been stabbed twenty four times before dying. The place that this murder took place is Stephanie's home town, Salem, Mass. It is one day until Halloween night, the third anniversary of Stephanie's mother's murder. She was killed in a similar way. Stephanie's father came home from his job that morning to a house filled with police officers.

"What in lord's name is going on here," he hollered.

Detective Ben, who investigated his wife's murder was on the scene in no time. "I think we have the same murderer on our hands," said Detective Ben to Mr. Smith.

"I thought we had him in jail" said Mr. Smith.

"We did, but he escaped from jail last week!" Detective Ben said defensively.

"If you can't stop him I will!" Mr. Smith said in a fit of rage.

That night it was dark, dreary and wet. About five miles away, the same thing was happening. Knock, knock, Tara heard someone at the door. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Your worse nightmare," replied the voice.

"Oh Ken come on in, it's not Halloween yet."

He was dressed in all black with a white and black mask.

"I know," explained the man. Then the man pulled out the his knife. The girl screamed as the knife rips open her flesh, blood oozes down her body, and you hear the voice say, "Sorry, I am not Ken."

Detective Ben arrives on the scene of this murder within minutes of the call. A few minutes later Mr. Smith drives up to the house. Mr. Smith was there to tell Stephanie's step sister about Stephanie's murder.

"What happened here!" shouted Mr. Smith. "I gave you your chance to get him." "Now it's my turn to get him my way." Then in a rage of anger, Mr. Smith left the house.

The Salem police held several meetings with community groups the next day to discuss the situation and try to calm the townspeople. The department brought in psychologists to try to get an idea of what type of a murderer they were looking for, and who his next victim might be. The murderer seemed to be focusing on the relatives of the Smith family, and the killings were always with a knife and very brutal. The prime suspect was a man named Ben Johnson, who was convicted of killing Mr. Smith's wife three years before. The trial was very quick, and Johnson said he didn't do it, but there was enough circumstantial evidence to convict him. Where was he, and who would he try to kill next? If they could answer that, they might be able to catch him.

Halloween is tonight. All the people in Salem were terrified to know that a vicious murderer was walking the streets. No one would let their children out to go trick or treating because of the murders. At one house a little boy's heart was broken.

He pleaded, "Please mom let me go, please."

The mom answered, "not this year." "I have to go to the store." "I'll be back soon."

Ring, ring, Bobby runs and picks up the telephone, "Hello," he said. "Do you want to go trick or treating," asked the voice.

"Why are you dressed like that?" Bobby asked the man. "Aren't we going trick or treating?" said the boy.

"This is my costume," said the man.

Bobby jumps in the car.

"Ha-ha," laughs the man. "This will be the worse night of your life." The man bought the child to an old abandoned barn. "There is something in there I want to show you."

The boy went in willingly. As soon as he got him in the barn, the man grabbed him and tied his arms to his legs and left him there to die.

As Bobby's mother walks in the house she calls out to him, "Where are you?" She notices that the TV is on and then feels a strange feeling coming over her. She knows something is WRONG. Immediately she picks up the phone and dials 911.

Detective Ben is notified that a child is missing, and that the child is a nephew of Mr. Smith. The detective calls Mr. Smith and tells him about his nephew's disappearance. Mr. Smith meets the detective at his nephew's house. They found no clues leading to the boy's whereabouts.

Mr. Smith screamed, "When will this nightmare end!", as he drove away.

Halloween night came and darkness began to fall. Mr. Smith knew what he had to do. He had to get to the detective who was getting close to finding the murderer. The task force that was set up, headed by the detective, was working on some leads. He had to know how close they were to finding the murderer. He drove to the police station and found Detective Ben. He told the detective he thought he knew where his nephew was being held. The detective immediately took Mr. Smith in his car, and they drove off to the place where Mr. Smith lead him.

It was an old abandoned barn a few miles east of town. As detective Ben Started to get out of the car, a shiny knife blade was lunged into his back. He fell out of the car onto the ground.

As he lay there bleeding to death, Mr. Smith stood over him and said, "Sorry, but I had to do it, you were getting too close." "You put the wrong guy away three years ago." "My old mother is on her death bed, and her millions of inheritance must go to me, and only me!" "Remember three years ago when you found my wife dead, and I thought I knew who did it and I pointed you to the landscape guy, Ben?" "Well, I had planned it for months, and when there was a scare about a Halloween killer, I saw my chance to kill her, and get away with it!" "Bobby and his mother are the only heirs left, and I must kill him now, and her next."

While all this was going on, Ben Johnson, was hiding after his escape, trying to figure out how to prove his innocence. He figured the best way to prove it was to follow Mr. Smith. He followed him that night, and from the bushes heard Mr. Smith's confession. He dove from the bushes and punched Mr. Smith silly until he broke into tears. He called for help on the Detective's radio, Ben found young Bobby and untied him. The police and ambulance came and got Detective Ben to the hospital in time to save his life. Young Bobby was reunited with his family, and Ben Johnson was a free man again. Mr. Smith sits in a rubber room in a mental institution, where he will spend the rest of his life.